Grant Rogers, managing director of 3P Enterprise and founder of the Henry Wag pet accessories brand, has been named Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year at the South West regional Great British Entrepreneur Awards ceremony in Exeter.
The Gloucestershire-based business owner will now go forward to the national finals in London on November 21.
The awards are sponsored by NatWest and celebrate entrepreneurship in Great Britain through a portfolio of products, events and initiatives designed to support entrepreneurs and their ventures.
The finalists in the South West were selected from an initial entry of more than 3,000 businesses. The award entries were judged by a panel of entrepreneurs and businesspeople from across a wide spectrum of British business. including Cath Kidston, Justine Roberts, of Mumsnet, and Jon Wright, co-founder of Innocent Drinks.
ACCESSORIES
Grant Rogers started his business in 2002, building wooden dog kennels in his garage and a website to sell them from. To grow the business, he sourced and imported pet products from US manufacturers and, in 2007, secured the UK distribution rights for the Petmate brand, which he began selling to other retailers.
In 2013, Grant began developing his own Henry Wag range of pet accessories to develop products to meet the needs he experienced as a dog owner living in a rural location. He says he designed the Henry Wag product range ‘to remove the barriers to a more active outdoor life by offering cleaning and drying solutions for active dogs and their owners’. The range consists of a selection of absorbent microfibre towels and drying gloves and absorbent dog coats, car protection and pet travel products.
The award from GBEA adds to an amazing year for the business. The brand won Pet Product of the year at the Petquip trade association awards in September for the Drying range of products, adding to the new products showcase award at PATS Sandown 2019 for the Dog Drying coat. In addition, the brand featured on the BBC’s show, ‘The Customer is Always Right’ where the Henry Wag Noodle Glove Towel won over a panel of consumer testers to receive first place and the winner’s trophy.
SURPRISE
Grant said: “Winning the trophy was a real surprise for me, especially given the strength of the other finalists.
“It’s great to be recognised by some amazing people on the judging panel, but much of the credit must go to our team, our customers and our suppliers which have made this journey possible.
“I made it an objective at the start of this year to put our products and business forward for some awards with the aim of raising the profile of the business and achieving some recognition of what we are doing here at 3P Enterprise and in particular with the Henry Wag brand.
“If we were to lift the trophy at the national event in London next month it would be an amazing achievement for us all.”
